Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to characterizing and/or detecting structural characteristics of syringes, and more particularly to characterizing and/or detecting structural characteristics of syringes and/or automatic injection devices using acoustic vibrations.
One of the most common routes of administration for medications is by injection, such as intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular injection. Typically, injections via a syringe are carried out by trained medical personnel and/or by a patient trained in the use of the syringe to allow for self-injection. Syringes can be used in a standalone form and/or can be incorporated into automatic injection devices (autoinjectors). Standalone syringes are generally bare, i.e., unencumbered by a housing, while syringes incorporated in automatic injection devices are generally at least partially surrounded by and/or encased in a housing.
Automatic injection devices have been used, for example, to deliver medications under emergency conditions, such as to administer epinephrine to counteract the effects of a severe allergic reaction, for example, as caused by a food allergy. Automatic injection devices also have been described for use in administering antiarrhythmic medications and selective thrombolytic agents during a heart attack.
In some instances syringes can have structural abnormalities that may include structural defects and/or damage that occurred during manufacture, warehousing, and/or shipping of the syringes and/or automatic injection devices including the syringes. For example, the syringes may include cracks and/or scratches as well as other structure abnormalities. Inspection of syringes for structural abnormalities is conventionally performed using visual or optical inspection processes. However, these processes are typically insufficient for detecting small cracks or closed cracks in syringes. Furthermore, these processes are generally not available when a large portion of the syringe is not visible and/or inaccessible, for example, because the syringe is encased in an automatic injection device. Conventionally, an automatic injection device is destroyed or disassembled to inspect a syringe incorporated in the automatic injection device.